Support Us

A donation to Astraea reaches across the globe, fueling campaigns for constitutional protections, combating forced “rehabilitation” clinics for lesbians, and fighting for the right for self-determination for trans people.

Very few foundations are supporting the crucial work of LGBTI activists in the U.S. and around the globe—in fact, 0.2% of all foundation dollars nationally support these issues.

Astraea exists to change that. And you can too.

As a public foundation, we combine contributions of all sizes to make a bigger impact than any one of us can alone… an impact that is global.

How can you join?

We partner with you to help facilitate and personalize your giving through retreats, workshops, briefings and individualized meetings.

Learn more about opportunities to forge unique, active and creative philanthropic partnerships with Astraea!

Stocks

Stocks A gift of appreciated stocks, bonds, or mutual fund shares to Astraea can provide critically needed financial support to lesbian-led, LGBTQI, and progressive organizations and reduce your tax liability! Your tax deduction is based on the full market value of the gift, and you avoid capital gains taxes.

Please visit our Stock Transfer Page for detailed information on how to donate stock to Astraea.

When making your gift to Astraea, please ask your company's Human Resources Department whether they offer a matching gift program. If they do, ask for a matching gift form, fill out your portion, and enclose it with your donation. Astraea will verify your donation and your company will match, or double, even triple your gift to Astraea!

Memorial and Honorary Gifts

Gifts In Honor and Memory To give a gift in honor or in memory of someone, please fill in the gift recognition section of Astraea's gift form or contact Ariel Federow, Development Associate, at afederow@astraeafoundation.org or at 212-529-8021, ext. 817.

Establish A Donor-Advised Fund

There are numerous advantages to establishing a donor-advised fund as a part of Astraea.

Your fund becomes part of a publicly supported, visible, lesbian organization, while you can be as visible or anonymous as you choose.

You may get a larger tax deduction for current and future gifts.

Since the fund doesn't pay excise tax, there frequently is more available for charity.

Your fund can be set up in a day, rather than requiring months.

Your fund is managed by an expertly advised organization with an experienced, full-time staff.

Your administrative expenses are minimized while your dollars to the community are maximized.

The minimum required to establish and name a fund at Astraea is $10,000.

There are a number of giving options and opportunities for establishing funds. Each one is slightly different and provides the donor with varying levels of involvement in the grantmaking process. It is also possible to structure your gift to include more than one kind of fund.

For donors who want specific charities or individuals to benefit from their fund, or want assistance managing the check-writing and correspondence involved with grantmaking, Astraea can professionalize your charitable giving without the responsibilities and costs entailed in running a private foundation. With a donor-advised fund you can refer requests for support to us, suggest we make payments to any charity you choose, or you can tell us your interests or area of focus and we can bring proposals to you. If you wish, you can have your gifts remain anonymous. We take care of all the clerical tasks.

While your recommendations cannot be binding (our board has final say under Internal Revenue Service rules), we take the donor's suggestions very seriously, and as long as they are consistent with Astraea's mission, they will be approved.

Types Of Funds

Unrestricted Funds

An unrestricted fund allows for the greatest flexibility in the funding of issues and ensures that your gift will always be used where it is most needed. Guided by Astraea's Board of Directors, a national Community Funding Panel (CFP) of lesbian activists and artists, with the assistance of our professional grantmaking staff, carries out a rigorous process of defining issues, setting priorities, reviewing proposals and making decisions. By creating an unrestricted fund, you can be assured that your gift will always be used to meet vital needs, support innovative programs and improve the quality of life for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The donor receives a comprehensive report of the grants made out of the fund and can recommend grants for consideration by the CFP.

Field of Interest Funds

A field-of-interest fund allows the donor to target their giving to a particular area or issue. For instance, you might create a fund to support lesbian and gay youth, or health, or anti-violence projects. Once you establish the guidelines, we go to work, researching and preparing a grant spending plan for that field of interest. Our staff and review proposals against your fund's field of interest and any other funding criteria that have been established. After we make the grants, we keep in touch with the grantees to assess your funding's effectiveness. As with unrestricted funds, the donor receives a comprehensive report of the grants made out of the fund and can recommend grants for consideration.

The advantage of field-of-interest funds, like unrestricted funds, is that they keep up with the times. The arts will always have to be supported by private philanthropy, and we will always have youth to be concerned about. But many of the issues confronting today's youth weren't around 30 years ago, and neither were many of the most exciting arts groups working today. Rather than locking your charitable contributions into a few specific charities that may be good today (and gone tomorrow), a field-of-interest fund has a timeless flexibility to be in the right place at the right time.

The Endowment Fund

Support Our Endowment As a global foundation with a U.S. and International Grants Program, Astraea plays a unique role in the ongoing struggle for LGBTI rights, economic justice, racial equality and the eradication of the many "isms" that diminish people and our world. Astraea has a well-established track record as an innovative philanthropic entity that partners with individuals and other foundations who believe, as we do, that meaningful change can occur when collective resources are acutely focused.

In 1999, we launched Astraea's Endowment Campaign with the goal of ensuring a permanent financial reservoir of support for the Foundation. Although our Campaign was successfully completed, we will continue to build the Fund in the coming years to ensure that Astraea and our community have the resources needed to bring about lasting social change.

Planned Giving

Women Will and Friends Circleis a Giving Circle for women and allies who have made planned gifts and bequests to Astraea Foundation. It provides a way for Astraea to recognize and thank donors who have designated us as a beneficiary of their estate during their lifetime and to involve them more intimately in the Foundation's work.

Women Will and Friends Circle members will be recognized in Astraea publications and at special events.

There are many ways of making a planned gift to Astraea. Each option is expressive of a donor's particular interests and each has a distinct tax advantage. Moreover, a variety of assets may be appropriate for charitable gift purposes.

Deferred Gifts In many cases a deferred gift enables a donor to make a more significant contribution to Astraea than would be possible by an outright gift. Most often such gifts are funded with cash or stock and take the form of life income arrangements, which generate income for the donor during her lifetime or for a term of years. The principal then reverts to Astraea. The donor receives immediate tax benefits for the contribution while helping insure Astraea's future strength. The donor may name an income beneficiary other than herself, and she may also extend the income interest to include the life of a second or survivor beneficiary.

Charitable Remainder Trusts Cash, securities or real estate are put into an irrevocable trust. This trust pays income annually to you (or another beneficiary that you choose) with the remainder of the trust benefiting Astraea upon your (or their) death. You qualify for tax advantages at the time the gift is made and the trust is exempt from estate taxes at the time of your death.

Charitable Lead Trusts Cash, securities or real estate are placed into an irrevocable trust. In this case the trust pays income to Astraea for a certain period of time. At the end of the trust period, the entire trust principal plus any appreciation and undistributed income returns to the donor or the designated beneficiaries. A lead trust can work well for donors who have estates worth $1 million or more and fund the trust with a minimum of $100,000.

If you would like to designate Astraea as a beneficiary in your will, insurance policy or retirement fund, please contact the Development Department at 212-529-8021.

Now you can help Astraea every time you travel on American Airlines—at no cost to you! When making a reservation on AA.com or with a travel agent, all you need to do is provide them with Astraea's Business ExtrAA account number and you will help earn valuable points for Astraea - and you can still earn your own AAdvantage Miles! Astraea's Business ExtrAA number: 752242